DJ Vintage

First off: I am a late “convert” to Mac. And, being a total Windows guy (I only have a Mac for DJ-ing, all my other laptops and PCs are Windows), it bugs me to admit that yes, for various reasons, the Mac outperforms my Windows laptops (which I got very close and very stable by spending many hours tearing everything out of windows that was hampering performance, tweaking drivers and such), the Mac is ultimately more suitable for sound related work, imho, and without all the extra knowledge and time spent in getting it to that point. Apart from the OSX operating system and Apple’s total control, there are some other, very practical considerations as well.
Having said that, this is not an Apple vs Windows issue. So we’ll move on from that one.

DJ Software is DJ Software. Unfortunately not true. While in an operational sense they are, the choice of DJ software does really matter, based on your (expected) workflow. Let’s say you are a mobile DJ, not interested in (much) use of samples, or multi-track manipulation of songs. And you want to work with a wide variety of genres, including music that came from the days before drum computers. In that case I would say that Traktor, to me, would be the worst software choice around. And I am a mobile DJ and I did start with Traktor on a (then) supported Denon controller.

If all you do is use your DJ Software to find tracks, make playlists and send tracks to decks to play them, then yes, DJ software is pretty much all the same, as they all share this very, very basic set of features. As soon as you want to expand the creative possibilities, the software starts to drift apart significantly. This is true for PC/Mac platforms.

At this point in time, tablet software is just getting there, slowly. DJay for iPad is significantly less full-featured and potent than any of the PC software around. The spinning records looked positively toy-like and it isn’t all THAT long ago that the option to show parallel waveforms instead was introduced. Currently you can get DJ Pro for iPad, which is more of a carbon copy of the Mac version and I believe allows for synchronization between the two. Allowing editing on your iMac or Mac Mini and then having those changes available on your iPad.

With the advent of iPad Pro and it’s big screen and powerful innards I believe we have gotten a step closer to where an iPad with a separate wireless keyboard/mouse combo might start taking over from the laptop, provided PC/Mac level software is ported to the platform (which I will believe will be the case).

What you are suggesting though is using iPads as players and using a simple analogue mixer to hook everything up. Apart from sound quality issues (the iPad sound card isn’t quite up to par to what you would find on serious controllers), there is another major drawback to this setup. And that is synchronization between your players. There is no way to easily control that changes made to your tracks (simple example: an added cue point) sync correctly with the other tablets. This is one of the advantages of using DJ software (or even iPad software), all your tracks and analysis information in one place.

I have seen a kid play once with two tablets and a very simple two-channel mixer. So it can be done. I did ask him if he used things like FX and such, but he did (honestly) confess that this wasn’t as easy as when he used his controller. The point here being that tactile feedback from controllers (physical knobs, buttons, faders) is just not comparable to touching a glass plate, especially in the heat of the moment.

Clearly there are iPad-ready controllers that will double as midi-controllers. You can take one of those with your laptop (DJ Pro for example) for full on DJ-ing or take it with just your iPad (also DJ Pro). You can even then take your iPad and DJ with it solo (both decks controlled from the one iPad) for impromptu parties. Just add a DJ splitter cable, your headphones and a lead to hook up to any set of powered speakers or a PA.

Just my three cents worth.

Applause for mapping your own controller. The problem with mapping is that it is usually supported from controller to software (i.e. what happens when you push buttons or move faders or the platter), the other way around (i.e. what lights have to light up and such) is usually far more complicated and less DIY.

What I don’t understand though is that DJ Pro supports the Ion DJ2Go natively, so it should work plug and play out of the box!

What went wrong?

Hi Craig, welcome to the forums. We will gladly answer your questions. Be sure to browse the posts in these forums and on the main site for information. If you have anything specific you are looking for, be sure to post your question.

Also, please do not write post titles in ALL CAPS. It’s considered shouting and shouting is impolite and we are all about polite here.

Glad you have at least some kind of work-around that works for you.

I think “us” mobile gigs get that more than especially our younger counterparts that entered DJ-ing out of a sense of wanting to be the next Tiesto, Armin or Guetta.

And it’s harder to be mad at a friendly guy if he makes a mistake than it is at a … you know what.

focusrite is a brand of sound cards, perhaps he was using one?

I think I did see something like that as a workaround in the Traktor link you shared. Instead of Focusrite you probably have to read “your sound card”.

This apparently resets the audio driver.